Nat (Natalie King)
First Sergeant Natalie King is an Australian Systems Alliance Marine, currently serving as a company sergeant in the 2/50th Mechanized Infantry battalion, on deployment to Avakk III. She has been posting on CDN with varying frequency since shortly before the Reaper War under the username of 'Nat'. 36 years old, she is married with two children. Biography Early Life Born in Melbourne, Australia to Daniel and Mary King, an IT engineer and an ex-Royal Australian Air Force/SAN sailor respectively, the youngest of three children, Nat's childhood was tumultuous. Mary King was captured by the Turian Hierarchy during the First Contact War when Nat was young, an incident that left Mary both traumatized and deeply suspicious of aliens - and with a burgeoning resentment of the Systems Alliance for joining the Citadel, which led to her leaving the military and cut short the Kings' original plan to move their family to a colony. Growing up Nat was naturally athletically gifted, playing both soccer and Australian Rules Football, getting into the youth state team for the latter sport, and while she wasn't exactly stupid, she struggled at school. This was in contrast to both her sister Cristina and her brother Jack, who she was closest to despite their differences. She was quickly captivated by the idea of joining the military, inspired by her family's history in the ADF. Her parents encouraged her to get involved with the cadet program at school, hoping it would prove an outlet, though with the expectation that she would join the Australian Defence Force. However when she graduated from high school it was the Systems Alliance Marine Corps she enlisted into, caught by the idea of space travel, the Marine ethos and getting off Earth. Conflict in the Attican Traverse In 2173, the year Nat enlisted, was the beginning of a period of high tensions between the Batarian Hegemony and the Systems Alliance over disputed territory in the Traverse and Skyllian Verge. After serving a couple of years in a colonial garrison she was transferred to the fleet in time for the Relief of Elysium in '76, her first major battle. After Elysium, she participated in the Theshaca Raids, during which she met Gaia Romoli, an acerbic L2 biotic, who despite their many differences became her (so far) life long best friend. The Raids were during a shift in Alliance tactics after Elysium and Torfan aimed at reducing Marine casualties (and media criticism over said casualties), tactics which Nat was involved in enacting as a Marine assaultman, responsible for deploying explosives and multi-purpose rockets. This period- and the bloodshed she was both witness and perpetrator of- forced her to grow up, stripping her of some of her levity but also of her carelessness. After heavy casualties to her platoon aboard the SSV Tobruk, she was promoted to Corporal, and when the ship's tour of duty ended King volunteered for another tour to bring some much needed experience to their replacements. During the second tour of duty she was awarded a Distinguished Combat Medal, equivalent to a UNAS Bronze Star. It was during her furlough after her second tour that she met Doctor Kaseka Hayeus, an asari neurosurgeon through a friend. They began a casual relationship which would develop into the second great love story in her life. Eden Prime War After a couple of years of peaceful service besides the normal space policing and boarding actions, Natalie was now a sergeant within the Fourth Airmobile, light infantry division utilizing shuttles and thruster packs for aerial insertion, when the Eden Prime War began in 2183. As the division designed to be rapidly deployed, Nat was soon thrust into the fighting. While she wasn't present at the pivotal First Battle of the Citadel, King took part in Search and Destroy missions on six different planets aimed at preventing what Alliance brass believed to be credible thread- that the geth would launch an invasion of Alliance space. During one mission, her platoon's shuttle was shot down and both the platoon leader and platoon sergeant were killed or badly wounded, along with several other Marines. Encircled and with aerial CSAR impossible, King took command of her immobilized platoon and dug in for a long hard fight to hold out until reinforcements from the Eighth Armoured Regiment could rescue them. The rescue mission hit a snag when a geth anti-tank unit prevented the tanks from advancing toward her platoon, so Nat, being the one armed with the multi-purpose launcher, left most of her riflemen and the machine-gunners to defend before flanking the geth AT with what was left of her armoured section. She successfully destroyed the enemy AT position with her launcher but her squad was quickly fired on by a geth armature. Nat was wounded during the engagement, giving her a scar through her eyebrow she still has to this day when her visor broke but her actions allowed the Eighth Armoured to break through to the encircled platoon and extract them. For her actions she was promoted to Staff Sergeant and awarded a Medal of Heroism. Shortly after the battle Nat was informed by her unit chaplain that her father had died in a car crash. She returned to Australia and promptly began organizing his funeral and the family's expenses. Although her sister Christina accused of her being somewhat unaffected, Nat simply found being the one organizing and the one leaned on the best way to cope with his death. The Reaper War After returning to duty in early 2184, Nat found her relationship with Kaseka deepening and that with her mother deteriorating again. She was transferred to the Systems Alliance Eighth Fleet, aboard the SSV ''Benjamin Davis, ''with the fleet's strategic quick reaction force. She bounced in between platoon and section leader billets but she enjoyed the 1/10th Infantry Battalion a great deal and bonded tightly with many of the Marines. Threads A Message to Citizens of the Alliance: Evacuation: The Fleet starts evacuating a colony when a Reaper force hits. Tempers are lost, orders disobeyed and ships burn. Still Kicking: Nat tells the board that she isn't in fact dead. After You Get Out Alive: The aftermath of their first brush with the Reapers is dealt with by the Marines and crew of the Eighth Fleet. Hell Came At Midday: The Reapers decide that they're not done with the Eighth Fleet and hit them again over Ontarom. Category:Humans Category:Characters